What is the name of the old castle? The most unusual castles. Highclere Castle, UK

You write about a baron in a castle, so you can at least roughly imagine how the castle was heated, how it was ventilated, how it was lit...
From an interview with G. L. Oldie

When we hear the word “castle”, an image of a majestic fortress appears in our imagination - business card fantasy genre. There's hardly another architectural structure, which would attract so much attention from historians, military experts, tourists, writers and lovers of “fairy-tale” fiction.

We play computer, board and role-playing games where we have to explore, build or conquer impregnable castles. But do we know what these fortifications actually are? Which interesting stories related to them? What do the stone walls hide behind them - witnesses of entire eras, grandiose battles, knightly nobility and vile betrayal?

Surprisingly, it is a fact - the fortified dwellings of feudal lords in different parts of the world (Japan, Asia, Europe) were built according to very similar principles and had many common design features. But in this article we will focus primarily on medieval European feudal fortresses, since they served as the basis for the creation of a mass artistic image of a “medieval castle” as a whole.

Birth of a fortress

The Middle Ages in Europe were a turbulent time. The feudal lords, for any reason, organized small wars among themselves - or rather, not even wars, but, in modern language, armed “showdowns”. If a neighbor had money, it had to be taken away. Lots of land and peasants? This is simply indecent, because God ordered sharing. And if knightly honor was affected, then it was simply impossible to do without a small victorious war.

Under such circumstances, the large aristocratic landowners had no choice but to strengthen their homes with the expectation that one fine day their neighbors might come to visit them, and if they don’t feed them bread, let them kill someone.

Initially, these fortifications were made of wood and did not resemble the castles we know in any way - except that a ditch was dug in front of the entrance and a wooden palisade was placed around the house.

The manorial courts of Hasterknaup and Elmendorv are the ancestors of the castles.

However, progress did not stand still - with the development of military affairs, the feudal lords had to modernize their fortifications so that they could withstand a massive assault using stone cannonballs and rams.

The European castle has its roots in antiquity. The earliest structures of this kind copied Roman military camps (tents surrounded by a palisade). It is generally accepted that the tradition of building gigantic (by the standards of that time) stone structures began with the Normans, and classic castles appeared in the 12th century.

The besieged castle of Mortan (withstood the siege for 6 months).

The castle had very simple requirements - it must be inaccessible to the enemy, provide surveillance of the area (including the nearest villages belonging to the owner of the castle), have its own source of water (in case of a siege) and perform representative functions - that is, show the power and wealth of the feudal lord.

Beaumarie Castle, owned by Edward I.

Welcome

We are heading to the castle standing on a ledge mountain slope, from the edge of a fertile valley. The road goes through a small settlement - one of those that usually grew up near the fortress wall. Simple people live here - mostly artisans, and warriors guarding the outer perimeter of defense (in particular, guarding our road). These are the so-called “castle people”.

Scheme of castle structures. Note that there are two gate towers, the largest one standing separately.

The road is laid in such a way that the newcomers always face the castle with their right side, not covered by a shield. Directly in front of the fortress wall there is a bare plateau, lying at a significant slope (the castle itself stands on an elevation - natural or embankment). The vegetation here is low so that there is no cover for attackers.

The first obstacle is a deep ditch, and in front of it is a shaft of excavated earth. The moat can be transverse (separates the castle wall from the plateau) or crescent-shaped, curved forward. If the landscape allows, a moat encircles the entire castle in a circle.

Sometimes dividing ditches were dug inside the castle, making it difficult for the enemy to move through its territory.

The bottom shape of ditches could be V-shaped or U-shaped (the latter is the most common). If the soil under the castle is rocky, then ditches were either not made at all, or they were cut down to a shallow depth, preventing only the advance of infantry (it is almost impossible to dig under the castle wall in the rock - therefore the depth of the ditch was not of decisive importance).

The crest of the earthen rampart lying directly in front of the ditch (which makes it seem even deeper) often carried a palisade - a fence made of wooden stakes dug into the ground, pointed and tightly fitted to each other.

A bridge spanning a moat leads to the outer wall of the castle. Depending on the size of the ditch and bridge, the latter is supported by one or more supports (huge logs). The outer part of the bridge is fixed, but the last section (right next to the wall) is movable.

Scheme of the entrance to the castle: 2 - gallery on the wall, 3 - drawbridge, 4 - grate.

Counterweights on the gate lift.

Castle gate.

This drawbridge is designed so that in a vertical position it covers the gate. The bridge is powered by mechanisms hidden in the building above them. From the bridge to the lifting machines, ropes or chains go into the wall openings. To facilitate the work of people servicing the bridge mechanism, the ropes were sometimes equipped with heavy counterweights, taking part of the weight of this structure on themselves.

Of particular interest is the bridge, which worked on the principle of a swing (it is called “tipping” or “swinging”). One half of it was inside - lying on the ground under the gate, and the other stretched across the ditch. When the inner part rose, covering the entrance to the castle, the outer part (which the attackers sometimes already managed to run into) sank down into the ditch, where the so-called “wolf pit” was built (sharp stakes dug into the ground), invisible from the outside until the bridge is down.

To enter the castle when the gates were closed, there was a side gate next to them, to which a separate lift ladder was usually laid.

The gate is the most vulnerable part of the castle; it was usually not made directly into its wall, but was located in the so-called “gate towers”. Most often, the gates were double-leaf, and the doors were knocked together from two layers of boards. To protect against arson, they were lined with iron on the outside. At the same time, in one of the doors there was a small narrow door, which could only be passed through by bending over. In addition to locks and iron bolts, the gate was closed by a transverse beam lying in the wall channel and sliding into the opposite wall. The cross beam could also be inserted into hook-shaped slots on the walls. Its main purpose was to protect the goal from being attacked by attackers.

Behind the gate there was usually a lowering grate. Most often it was made of wood, with lower ends bound in iron. But there were also iron gratings made from steel tetrahedral rods. The lattice could descend from a gap in the arch of the gate portal, or be located behind them (on the inside of the gate tower), descending along grooves in the walls.

The grate hung on ropes or chains, which in case of danger could be cut off so that it would quickly fall down, blocking the path of the invaders.

Inside the gate tower there were rooms for guards. They kept watch on the upper platform of the tower, asked the guests the purpose of their visit, opened the gates, and, if necessary, could shoot with a bow all those who passed under them. For this purpose, in the arch of the gate portal there were vertical loopholes, as well as “resin noses” - holes for pouring hot resin onto the attackers.

Tar noses.

All on the wall!

The most important defensive element of the castle was the outer wall - high, thick, sometimes on an inclined base. Processed stones or bricks made up its outer surface. Inside it consisted of rubble stone and slaked lime. The walls were placed on a deep foundation, under which it was very difficult to dig.

Often double walls were built in castles - a high external one and a small internal one. An empty space appeared between them, which received the German name “zwinger”. The attackers, when overcoming the outer wall, could not take with them additional assault devices (bulky ladders, poles and other things that cannot be moved inside the fortress). Once in the zwinger in front of another wall, they became an easy target (there were small loopholes in the walls of the zwinger for archers).

Zwinger at Lanek Castle.

At the top of the wall there was a gallery for defense soldiers. WITH outside The castle was protected by a strong parapet of half human height, on which stone battlements were regularly located. You could stand behind them at full height and, for example, load a crossbow. The shape of the teeth was extremely varied - rectangular, round, swallowtail-shaped, decoratively decorated. In some castles, the galleries were covered (wooden canopy) to protect the soldiers from the weather.

In addition to the battlements, behind which it was convenient to hide, the castle walls were equipped with loopholes. The attackers fired through them. Due to the peculiarities of using throwing weapons (freedom of movement and a certain shooting position), the loopholes for archers were long and narrow, and for crossbowmen they were short, with expansion on the sides.

A special type of loophole is a ball loophole. It was a freely rotating wooden ball fixed to the wall with a slot for firing.

Pedestrian gallery on the wall.

Balconies (the so-called “machiculi”) were installed in the walls very rarely - for example, in the case when the wall was too narrow for the free passage of several soldiers, and, as a rule, performed only decorative functions.

At the corners of the castle, small towers were built on the walls, most often flanking (that is, protruding outward), which allowed the defenders to fire along the walls in two directions. In the late Middle Ages, they began to be adapted for storage. The inner sides of such towers (facing the castle courtyard) were usually left open so that an enemy who broke into the wall could not gain a foothold inside them.

Flanking corner tower.

Castle from the inside

The internal structure of the locks was varied. In addition to the mentioned zwingers, behind the main gate there could be a small rectangular courtyard with loopholes in the walls - a kind of “trap” for attackers. Sometimes castles consisted of several “sections” separated by internal walls. But an indispensable attribute of the castle was a large courtyard (outbuildings, a well, rooms for servants) and a central tower, also known as the “donjon”.

Donjon at Vincennes Castle.

The life of all the inhabitants of the castle directly depended on the presence and location of the well. Problems often arose with it - after all, as mentioned above, castles were built on hills. The solid rocky soil also did not make the task of supplying water to the fortress any easier. There are known cases of castle wells being laid to a depth of more than 100 meters (for example, Kuffhäuser Castle in Thuringia or the Königstein fortress in Saxony had wells more than 140 meters deep). Digging a well took from one to five years. In some cases, this consumed as much money as the entire interior of the castle.

Due to the fact that water had to be obtained with difficulty from deep wells, issues of personal hygiene and sanitation faded into the background. Instead of washing themselves, people preferred to care for animals - especially expensive horses. It is not surprising that townspeople and villagers wrinkled their noses in the presence of castle inhabitants.

The location of the water source depended primarily on natural causes. But if there was a choice, then the well was dug not in the square, but in a fortified room, in order to provide it with water in case of shelter during a siege. If, due to the peculiarities of groundwater occurrence, a well was dug behind the castle wall, then a stone tower(if possible, with wooden passages to the castle).

When there was no way to dig a well, a cistern was built in the castle to collect rainwater from the roofs. Such water needed purification - it was filtered through gravel.

Military garrison of castles in Peaceful time was minimal. So in 1425, two co-owners of the castle of Reichelsberg in the Lower Franconian Aube entered into an agreement that each of them would provide one armed servant, and pay two gatekeepers and two guards together.

The castle also had a number of buildings that ensured the autonomous life of its inhabitants in conditions of complete isolation (blockade): a bakery, a steam bath, a kitchen, etc.

Kitchen at Marksburg Castle.

The tower was the tallest structure in the entire castle. It provided the ability to observe the surrounding area and served as a last refuge. When the enemies broke through all the defense lines, the population of the castle took refuge in the donjon and withstood a long siege.

The exceptional thickness of the walls of this tower made its destruction almost impossible (in any case, it would have required great amount time). The entrance to the tower was very narrow. It was located in the courtyard at a significant (6-12 meters) height. The wooden staircase leading inside could easily be destroyed and thereby block the attackers' path.

Entrance to the donjon.

Inside the tower there was sometimes a very high shaft going from top to bottom. It served either as a prison or a warehouse. Entry into it was possible only through a hole in the vault of the upper floor - “Angstloch” (German - terrifying hole). Depending on the purpose of the mine, the winch lowered prisoners or provisions into it.

If there were no prison premises in the castle, then the prisoners were placed in large wooden boxes made of thick boards, too small to stand up to their full height. These boxes could be installed in any room of the castle.

Of course, they were taken prisoner, first of all, to obtain a ransom or to use the prisoner in a political game. Therefore, VIPs were provided with the highest class - guarded chambers in the tower were allocated for their maintenance. This is exactly how Frederick the Handsome “spent his time” at the castle of Trausnitz on Pfeimde and Richard the Lionheart in Trifels.

Chamber at Marksburg Castle.

Abenberg Castle tower (12th century) in section.

At the base of the tower there was a basement, which could also be used as a dungeon, and a kitchen with a pantry. The main hall (dining room, common room) occupied an entire floor and was heated by a huge fireplace (it distributed heat only a few meters, so iron baskets with coals were placed further along the hall). Above were the chambers of the feudal lord's family, heated by small stoves.

At the very top of the tower there was an open (less often covered, but if necessary the roof could be dropped) platform where a catapult or other throwing weapon could be installed to fire at the enemy. The standard (banner) of the owner of the castle was also erected there.

Sometimes the donjon did not serve as a living space. It could well have been used only for military-economic purposes (observation posts on the tower, dungeon, food storage). In such cases, the feudal lord’s family lived in the “palace” - the living quarters of the castle, standing apart from the tower. The palaces were built of stone and had several floors in height.

It should be noted that the living conditions in the castles were far from the most pleasant. Only the largest palaces had a large knightly hall for celebrations. It was very cold in the dungeons and palaces. Fireplace heating helped, but the walls were still covered with thick tapestries and carpets - not for decoration, but to preserve heat.

The windows let in very little sunlight (this was due to the fortification nature of the castle architecture); not all of them were glazed. Toilets were arranged in the form of a bay window in the wall. They were unheated, so visiting the outhouse in winter left people with a unique feeling.

Castle toilet.

Concluding our “tour” of the castle, we cannot fail to mention that it necessarily had a room for worship (temple, chapel). The indispensable inhabitants of the castle included a chaplain or priest, who, in addition to his main duties, played the role of a clerk and teacher. In the most modest fortresses, the role of a temple was played by a wall niche where a small altar stood.

Large temples had two floors. Commoners prayed below, and gentlemen gathered in a warm (sometimes glassed-in) choir on the second tier. The decoration of such rooms was quite modest - an altar, benches and wall paintings. Sometimes the temple served as a tomb for the family living in the castle. Less often it was used as a refuge (along with the donjon).

There are many tales told about underground passages in castles. Of course, there were moves. But very few of them led from the castle somewhere into the neighboring forest and could be used as an escape route. As a rule, there were no long moves at all. Most often there were short tunnels between separate buildings, or from the keep to the complex of caves under the castle (additional shelter, warehouse or treasury).

War on earth and underground

Contrary to popular misconceptions, the average size of the military garrison of an ordinary castle during active hostilities rarely exceeded 30 people. This was quite enough for defense, since the inhabitants of the fortress were in relative safety behind its walls and did not suffer such losses as the attackers.

To take the castle, it was necessary to isolate it - that is, to block all food supply routes. That is why the attacking armies were much larger than the defending ones - about 150 people (this is true for a war of mediocre feudal lords).

The issue of provisions was the most painful. A person can live without water for several days, without food - about a month (one should take into account his low combat effectiveness during a hunger strike). Therefore, the owners of a castle preparing for a siege often took extreme measures - they drove out all the commoners who could not benefit the defense. As mentioned above, the garrison of the castles was small - it was impossible to feed an entire army under siege conditions.

The inhabitants of the castle rarely launched counterattacks. This simply did not make sense - there were fewer of them than the attackers, and they felt much calmer behind the walls. A special case is forays for food. The latter were carried out, as a rule, at night, in small groups that walked along poorly guarded paths to the nearest villages.

The attackers had no less problems. The siege of castles sometimes lasted for years (for example, the German Turant defended from 1245 to 1248), so the question of logistics for an army of several hundred people arose especially acutely.

In the case of the siege of Turant, chroniclers claim that during all this time the soldiers of the attacking army drank 300 fuders of wine (a fuder is a huge barrel). This amounts to about 2.8 million liters. Either the census taker made a mistake, or the constant number of besiegers was more than 1000 people.

The most preferred season for starving a castle was summer - there is less rain than in spring or autumn (in winter, the inhabitants of the castle could get water by melting snow), the crops were not yet ripe, and old supplies had already run out.

The attackers tried to deprive the castle of a source of water (for example, they built dams on the river). In the most extreme cases, “biological weapons” were used - corpses were thrown into the water, which could provoke outbreaks of epidemics throughout the area. Those inhabitants of the castle who were captured were mutilated by the attackers and released. They returned back and became unwitting parasites. They might not have been accepted at the castle, but if they were the wives or children of the besieged, then the voice of the heart outweighed considerations of tactical expediency.

The residents of the surrounding villages who tried to deliver supplies to the castle were treated no less cruelly. In 1161, during the siege of Milan, Frederick Barbarossa ordered the hands of 25 townspeople of Piacenza who were trying to supply food to their enemies to be cut off.

The besiegers set up a permanent camp near the castle. It also had some simple fortifications (palisades, earthen ramparts) in case of a sudden attack by the fortress’s defenders. For protracted sieges, a so-called “counter-castle” was built next to the castle. Usually it was located higher than the besieged one, which made it possible to conduct effective observation of the besieged from its walls and, if the distance allowed, to fire at them from throwing weapons.

View of Eltz Castle from Trutz-Eltz Counter-Castle.

The war against castles had its own specifics. After all, any more or less high stone fortification presented a serious obstacle to conventional armies. Direct infantry attacks on the fortress could well be crowned with success, which, however, came at the cost of great casualties.

That is why, in order to successfully capture the castle, a whole complex of military measures was necessary (the siege and starvation have already been mentioned above). One of the most labor-intensive, but at the same time extremely successful ways to overcome the castle’s defenses was undermining.

Undermining was done for two purposes - to provide troops with direct access to the castle's courtyard or to destroy a section of its wall.

Thus, during the siege of the Altwindstein castle in Northern Alsace in 1332, a brigade of sappers of 80 (!) people took advantage of the diversionary maneuvers of their troops (periodic short attacks on the castle) and within 10 weeks made a long passage in solid rock to the south- eastern part fortresses

If the castle wall was not too large and had an unreliable foundation, then a tunnel was dug under its base, the walls of which were strengthened with wooden struts. Next, the spacers were set on fire - just under the wall. The tunnel was collapsing, the base of the foundation was sagging, and the wall above this place was falling apart.

Storming of the castle (14th century miniature).

Later, with the advent of gunpowder weapons, bombs were planted in tunnels under castle walls. To neutralize the undermining, the besieged sometimes dug counter-undermining. Enemy sappers were poured with boiling water, bees were released into the tunnel, feces were poured into it (and in ancient times, the Carthaginians released live crocodiles into Roman tunnels).

Curious devices were used to detect tunnels. For example, large copper bowls with balls inside were placed throughout the castle. If a ball in any bowl began to tremble, this was a sure sign that a tunnel was being mined nearby.

But the main argument in attacking the castle were siege engines - catapults and rams. The first were not much different from those catapults that were used by the Romans. These devices were equipped with a counterweight, which imparted the greatest force to the throwing arm. With proper dexterity of the “gun crew,” catapults were quite accurate weapons. They threw large, smoothly hewn stones, and the combat range (on average, several hundred meters) was regulated by the weight of the projectiles.

A type of catapult is a trebuchet.

Sometimes the catapults were loaded with barrels filled with flammable materials. To give the defenders of the castle a couple of pleasant minutes, catapults threw the severed heads of prisoners to them (especially powerful machines could even throw whole corpses over the wall).

Storming a castle using a mobile tower.

In addition to the usual ram, pendulum ones were also used. They were mounted on high mobile frames with a canopy and looked like a log suspended on a chain. The besiegers hid inside the tower and swung the chain, causing the log to hit the wall.

In response, the besieged lowered a rope from the wall, at the end of which steel hooks were attached. With this rope they caught the ram and tried to lift it up, depriving it of mobility. Sometimes an unwary soldier could get caught on such hooks.

Having overcome the rampart, broken the palisades and filled in the ditch, the attackers either stormed the castle using ladders or used tall wooden towers, the upper platform of which was flush with the wall (or even higher than it). These gigantic structures were doused with water to prevent the defenders from setting them on fire and were rolled up to the castle along a plank flooring. A heavy platform was thrown over the wall. The assault group climbed up the internal stairs, went out onto the platform and fought into the gallery of the fortress wall. Usually this meant that in a couple of minutes the castle would be taken.

Silent Sapa

Sapa (from the French sape, literally - hoe, saper - to dig) is a method of digging a ditch, trench or tunnel to approach its fortifications, used in the 16th-19th centuries. The switchback (quiet, secretive) and flying glanders are known. Work with a shift gland was carried out from the bottom of the original ditch without workers going to the surface, and with a flying gland - from the surface of the earth under the cover of a previously prepared protective embankment of barrels and bags of earth. In the 2nd half of the 17th century, specialists - sappers - appeared in the armies of a number of countries to perform such work.

The expression to act “on the sly” means: to sneak, slowly, unnoticed, to penetrate somewhere.

Fights on the castle stairs

From one floor of the tower it was possible to get to another only along a narrow and steep spiral staircase. The ascent along it was carried out only one after another - it was so narrow. At the same time, the warrior who went first could rely only on his own ability to fight, because the steepness of the turn was chosen in such a way that it was impossible to use a spear or long sword from behind the leader’s back. Therefore, the battles on the stairs were reduced to single combat between the defenders of the castle and one of the attackers. Namely the defenders, because they could easily replace each other, since there was a special extended area behind them.

In all castles, the stairs twist clockwise. There is only one castle with a reverse twist - the fortress of the Counts Wallenstein. When studying the history of this family, it was discovered that most of the men in it were left-handed. Thanks to this, historians realized that such a design of stairs greatly facilitates the work of the defenders. The strongest blow with a sword can be delivered towards your left shoulder, and a shield in your left hand best covers your body from this direction. Only the defender has all these advantages. The attacker can only strike to the right side, but his striking hand will be pressed against the wall. If he puts his shield forward, he will almost lose the ability to use weapons.

Samurai castles

Himeji Castle.

We know the least about exotic castles - for example, Japanese ones.

Initially, samurai and their overlords lived on their estates, where, in addition to watchtower“Yagur” and a small ditch around the dwelling, there were no other defensive structures. In case of a protracted war, fortifications were erected in hard-to-reach areas of the mountains, where it was possible to defend against superior enemy forces.

Stone castles began to be built at the end of the 16th century, taking into account European achievements in fortification. An indispensable feature of a Japanese castle are wide and deep artificial ditches with steep slopes that surrounded it on all sides. Usually they were filled with water, but sometimes this function was performed by a natural water barrier - a river, lake, swamp.

Inside, the castle was a complex system of defensive structures, consisting of several rows of walls with courtyards and gates, underground corridors and labyrinths. All these structures were located around the central square of Honmaru, on which the feudal lord's palace and the high central tenshukaku tower were erected. The latter consisted of several gradually decreasing rectangular tiers with protruding tiled roofs and pediments.

Japanese castles, as a rule, were small - about 200 meters long and 500 wide. But among them there were also real giants. Thus, Odawara Castle occupied an area of ​​170 hectares, and total length its fortress walls reached 5 kilometers, which is twice the length of the walls of the Moscow Kremlin.

Ancient charm

Castles are still being built today. Those that were state property are often returned to the descendants of ancient families. Castles are a symbol of the influence of their owners. They are an example of an ideal compositional solution, which combines unity (defense considerations did not allow the picturesque distribution of buildings throughout the territory), multi-level buildings (main and secondary) and the utmost functionality of all components. Elements of castle architecture have already become archetypes - for example, a castle tower with battlements: its image sits in the subconscious of any more or less educated person.

French castle of Saumur (14th century miniature).

And finally, we love castles because they are simply romantic. Knightly tournaments, ceremonial receptions, vile conspiracies, secret passages, ghosts, treasures - when applied to castles, all this ceases to be a legend and turns into history. The expression “the walls remember” fits perfectly here: it seems that every stone of the castle breathes and hides a secret. I would like to believe that medieval castles will continue to maintain an aura of mystery - because without it, sooner or later they will turn into an old pile of stones.

The castle is a real greeting from the past and an opportunity to plunge into a fairy tale. Which castles are the most famous?

The most famous castles

We offer you the top 10 most famous castles in the world:

Located in Southwestern Bavaria (Germany) near the town of Fussen. It is, in fact, a figment of the imagination of the monarch Ludwig II, who decided in 1869 to lower the rock plateau and create a unique creation of architecture. By the way, the name of the castle translates as “New Swan Stone”.

Construction lasted for 17 years, it cost a fabulous sum (about 6 million gold marks), but under Ludwig it was never completed, although, of course, it is still the same as the monarch invented it to this day. The throne room is incredibly beautiful, which looks more like a museum with many works of art. The Grotto, a room located on the third floor and decorated in the form of a fairy-tale cave with a waterfall, also attracts attention.

Located in southern Italy in the city of Andria. The name literally translates as “castle on the mountain,” and this structure was built by the will of the Emperor of the Roman Empire, Frederick II. And although this castle is considered one of the most famous, it does not have the typical features of castles.

There was no bridge, no rampart, no ditch. In addition, there are no storage rooms, storage areas or stables. The purpose of this building is still unknown. Some historians considered the castle a hunting residence, while others claim that bold experiments in the transformation of metals were carried out here.

Later, the castle was almost completely abandoned and was only occasionally used as a refuge for noble families, shepherds, or bandits. But in 1966 it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

This unique castle is located near the small German town of Darmstadt, in Hesse. And this place is notable for the fact that a slightly eccentric alchemist and doctor Joseph Conrad Dippel, who called himself von Frankenstein (yes, the same Frankenstein about whom many films were made), once lived and worked here.

In the castle he conducted his crazy experiments and performed terrifying experiments. So, during experiments with nitroglycerin, he destroyed one of the castle towers, and some accused the doctor of stealing corpses from the cemetery.

According to rumors, Joseph even tried to resurrect the dead (although these are probably not rumors at all). One way or another, everyone was afraid of the doctor. By the way, the castle was originally built as a defensive structure. Today only one tower remains intact, but the atmosphere is still ominous.

Was originally built as sea ​​fortress in 1524-1531. It was planned to defend the castle from attacks from the sea. The structure was erected literally in a hurry, and that is why it looks very carelessly. But there was not a single attack, and later it was decided to use the castle for other than its intended purpose.

Its location was ideal for holding criminals, so in 1580 it was decided to organize a state prison here. Various politicians, Huguenots, leaders of the Paris Commune and the most dangerous criminals served their sentences there.

But this castle became famous and popular thanks to Alexandre Dumas and his immortal work “The Count of Monte Cristo”. The hero of this novel, Edmond Dantes, known as the prisoner of the Iron Mask, was in the Chateau d'If.

Located in Italy on the top of a limestone rock from which it gets its name. Nearby is a village of the same name. The first mention of this place dates back to 1078, but most likely the castle was built earlier.

This is a unique structure that was built on an uneven surface, but is incredibly durable and strong. A staircase leads to the lower level (there are two in total). Surely everyone has seen this place, since its main feature is a huge sculpture called “The Heart of Jesus”, which represents the figure of Jesus with outstretched arms, 14 meters high. This is a copy of the originally erected statue, but quite successful.

It was built in the distant 21st century by order of William the Conqueror. Initially, this structure was a structure made of wood and earth and was erected for defense. Then it was decided to strengthen the castle with stone. This building has seen as many battles and battles as no other fortress has seen.

And that is why his appearance was constantly changing. If you believe the legends, prisoners captured during the Hundred Years War were kept in one of the castle towers. And in one of the parts of the castle, namely in the house of Sir Fulk Greville, who died at the hands of his own servant, the ghost of the owner of the building wanders, according to tourists. One way or another, the history of this place is very dark.

Located in Portugal. It is located on a hilltop above the city of Sintra. This is just a stunningly beautiful building that used to be summer residence royal nobility. Initially, there was an abandoned monastery here, but then a luxurious palace appeared, which later became not only the hallmark of Portugal, but also a real national cultural monument.

According to one legend, it was in this place that the appearance of the Virgin Mary took place, and that is why the temple was built here. But later Prince Ferdinand acquired the land. And even today there is something to see in the castle, since its decoration excites the imagination and makes you go back to the old days.

– it is not only incredibly beautiful, but also in its own way unique place. The structure consists of 83 buildings, and almost all of them, oddly enough, are built of wood. Construction of the castle began back in the 14th century at the foot of Mount Hime. And it got its name for its smooth lines that look like the open wings of a heron.

Around the castle there is a luxurious garden, which previously was a large labyrinth with many dead ends, designed to confuse enemies who decided to attack the inhabitants. The building passed from one samurai family to another, and eventually became a local treasure. By the way, you might have seen the castle in one of the James Bond films, in which it was used as a secret ninja school.

It is located in Romania, approximately 30 kilometers from the city of Brasov and 20 kilometers from Rasnov. If you believe the legends, then Vlad Dracula, known to this day, once lived in this castle, whom many considered a vampire and a cruel killer. Whether this is true or not is unclear, but the history of the castle is really interesting.

Initially, the structure was used to protect the city. By the way, his rooms formed a labyrinth, and only “their own” knew how to get out of here. There were many owners of the castle, they sometimes changed one after another.

But as for Vlad the Impaler Dracula, it is unclear whether he was here. Yes, Dracula probably stayed at the castle a couple of times. Others claim that he was imprisoned in local dungeons and subjected to severe torture. But still popular place it became thanks to Vlad.

No wonder it attracts millions of tourists. It is considered one of the most exquisite castles. This building is located in Ireland, and it was erected in 1228 on the site of an Anglo-Norman house. For a long time, the owners of the castle were the Burgos family, but then a rift arose between the knight John de Burgh and Sir Richard Bingham.

The feud lasted a long time, but then the parties came to an agreement, but Richard Bingham eventually became the owner. He strengthened the castle and began to develop it. Then the owners began to change each other, and in 1910 Noel Huggard turned the castle into a luxury hotel. By the way, he remains such to this day and is included in the list of the most best hotels Ireland.

Be sure to take a trip and see at least one famous castle with your own eyes. You definitely won't regret it!

Ancient castles are something to be proud of local residents and delights tourists. Stunning buildings, originally designed to protect people from enemy attacks, now protect the history of the country from oblivion, bearing witness to many events, happy and sad.

For example, the oldest surviving castle in the world, the castle of Loches on the Loire in France (its donjon was built in the 9th century!) has witnessed virtually the entire history of France. Let's travel around the map and look at photos of the most beautiful castle on the planet.

10 De la Pena, Portugal

It is very difficult to choose 10 most beautiful castles in the world - there are many more! And yet, the top ten usually includes De la Pena Castle, one of the wonders of Portugal.

Built in a mixture of different styles, multi-colored, looking like a child's whimsical dream, at the same time it looks very harmonious. De la Pena was built in the 19th century, but did not please its kings for long. Already in 1910, the last mistress left the walls of the castle, and now it is sometimes used by the president of the country for ceremonies.

The Alhambra Castle in Spain is often ranked 10th. Built in an amazing Moorish style in the 13th – 14th centuries under the rule of the Nasrids during the Muslim conquest of Grenada, it is very unusual for Europe. This is a stunning example of architecture that combines the features of Arab luxury (ligature, carvings, tiles) and elements of the Spanish style.

9 Aragonese castle in Italy


One of the oldest castles in Europe. The construction of fortifications on the island of Ischia began in the 5th century. The island on which the castle is located is a frozen outburst of lava.

It is quite small and yet is a famous landmark due to its beauty.
The Aragonese castle experienced both a heyday in the 16th century, when there were monasteries and residences of bishops and princes, and heroic events, when in the 18th century, 1800 families escaped from pirates outside the castle walls. Now the castle belongs to a private person, but is open to everyone.

8 Mont Saint-Michel Castle in France is one of the most beautiful castles in the world


The castle is also located on an island whose population today amounts to several dozen people. It is connected to the mainland by a dam. The island is famous for its strong ebbs and flows, exposing quicksand, which made the stronghold practically impregnable.

The beautiful castle arose after the appearance of a church on the island in the 8th century and is, in fact, an abbey, the construction of which took many years and was completed by the 16th century.

The castle is currently listed World Heritage UNESCO. Every year it is visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists.

7 Beaumaris, Wales


Old castle in Wales took 35 years to build, but was never completed due to lack of funds. But even in this form it fully coped with its defensive function in the 13th century, and now with its power and charm it attracts many lovers of antiquities and the beauty of architecture.

Named Beaumaris ("Beautiful Marsh"), it is indeed extremely decorative, although it was built without a traditional keep, being concentric in design.

6 Chambord, France


One of the most beautiful castles in the world, Chambord, located on the Loire, is also one of the largest. Its 32 km walled park, with 1,000 hectares open to the public, houses exquisite plants and rare bird species.

The castle itself, although built in medieval style, with a donjon, was intended not for defense, but for entertainment, and was probably conceived with the participation of Leonardo da Vinci: some extremely witty discoveries betray the hand of a genius.

Now Chambord is state owned museum complex France, it is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List; rooms that are not museums are provided public organizations for celebrations.

5 Himeji Castle, Japan


So far we have looked at castles located in Europe, but now let's move to Asia and mentally visit Himeji - White Heron Castle.

This is one of the oldest castles in Japan, it was built in the 14th century and laid the foundations of Japanese architecture in the field of defensive structures.

Himeji has a stone foundation, but almost the entire structure is made of wood; many skillfully placed loopholes and a kind of labyrinth that meets enemies who manage to get into its territory constitute its secret weapon. It is almost impossible to get out of the labyrinth without knowing it, and the enemies could be shot at a dead end by the defenders of the fortress. The castle is, of course, also protected by UNESCO.

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4 Marienburg - the largest castle in the world


And now before us is not only the amazingly beautiful and largest castle in the world - Marienburg. It is located in Poland, in a city that was also formerly called Marienburg, and now Malbork.

Of course, when we talk about the largest castle, we mean medieval castles, which includes Marienburg, built in the 13th – 14th centuries. Almost 4 and a half million bricks were used to build the walls and castle!

Since the 14th century, Marienburg was the capital of the knights of the Teutonic Order; in XV - withstood a siege during the Battle of Grunwald, and although the city was destroyed, the castle never fell. It was given as a debt to mercenaries, who sold the unique structure to the Polish king.

During the Second World War, the castle became a unique element of educating the new generation in the spirit of Nazism: children from the Hitler Youth were brought here to “touch the history of the Teutons.” Later the castle was destroyed, but has now been restored and is a museum.

3 Levenburg Castle in Germany


The beautiful castle seems to have come out of the pages of a chivalric novel, but in fact it is a stylization made in the 18th century. It was never used for military purposes, but, like the Chateau de Chambord, it was used for entertainment - for romantic dates and similar amusements.

It is difficult to imagine a more original and “fabulous” building! All buildings: arches, drawbridges, towers are grouped around the center, which gives amazing harmony to the entire building.

Around the Lviv Castle (as its name is translated) there is an amazing park with small buildings in different styles. Unfortunately, the castle and park were badly damaged during the Second World War, but they have almost been restored - alas, in a slightly modified form. The monument is still open to everyone.

2 Prague Castle in the Czech Republic


And again, a castle located in a Slavic country, which is considered the largest of all castles in the world. The fortress occupies the entire eastern part of the cliff and includes temples, cathedrals, fortifications, streets and buildings.

Now here is the residence of the President of the Czech Republic, and it is the largest residence in the world. Prague Castle dates back to the 9th century, when it was a very small fortification. But over several centuries, the fortress has grown greatly and is decorated with amazing buildings in different styles, the Romanesque and Gothic styles predominate, as well as Baroque.

Nowadays, the parks and premises of Prague Castle are gradually opening up to ordinary citizens and numerous tourists eager to enjoy amazing beauty fortresses You can already see the Royal and several other gardens, a cathedral and two palaces.

1 Neuschwanstein in Germany is the most beautiful castle


Most connoisseurs give first place to Neuschwanstein, one of the pearls of German architecture. Built in the neo-Gothic style, it amazes with its grace and harmony of lines. The castle attracts tourists from many countries of the world like a magnet, and indeed, there is something to see here.

The “fairytale” castle was built by order of King Ludwig II in the 19th century in literally 15 years, and the monarch spent time here last years everything in your life free time. In the center of the building is the Singers' Hall, the decoration of the walls of which is reminiscent of the music of Wagner.

The Throne Room with marble columns and mosaic floors amazes with its splendor. Nowadays no one lives in the castle, it is a museum that can be visited by paying 12 euros and climbing the mountain.

Since ancient times, castles were built to protect a region from enemies and today best reflect the history of states. In most cases, huge stone structures were built on the site of a small fortress. Fearsome outposts were most widespread in Europe. Over the centuries they have been strengthened and added to, and are now tourist attractions. Thousands of ancient buildings are scattered around the world, but these oldest castles are a separate page of history...

Killyleagh Castle, Northern Ireland. Founded in 1180

Killyly Castle is the main attraction of the village of the same name in Northern Ireland. The oldest parts of it date back to 1180, so it is believed to be the oldest castle in the country. King James I gave the land on which the castle sits to James Hamilton, who later became 1st Viscount Claneb. He then built a high castle surrounded by a wall.
Since 1625 the castle has been the family seat of the Hamilton family. In 1666, James Hamilton's son Henry restored the estate, added another tower, and erected a long fortified wall in front of the castle. This is how we see Killili today.


Alcazar in Segovia, Spain. Founded at the beginning of the 12th century

The Alcazar of Segovia was once an Arab fortress built on the remains of a Roman fort. The earliest mention of it dates back to 1120. At this time the city was retaken by King Alfonso VI. During the reign of King Alfonso VIII and his wife Eleanor of England, the Alcazar was their main residence. They rebuilt the ancient outpost and made it what it is today.
The castle remained one of the most important fortresses for the monarchs of Castile until they moved the capital to Madrid. In 1882, the castle was restored to its original form, and in 1896, King Alfonso XIII gave it to the Ministry of War for use as a military college.

Rochester Castle, Kent, South East England. Founded in the late 1080s

Rochester Castle was built in the late 1080s after William II asked the Bishop of Rochester, Gandalf, to build a stone castle there to control the river crossing. This stone structure is one of the first of its kind in England, because many early castles in the country in those days were built according to the “motte and bailey” type (mound-and-palisade castle).
In 1127, the Archbishop of Canteburi began construction of the temple, which is considered one of the best preserved in England and France. Exactly this high building in Europe. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the castle was restored and opened to the public.

. Founded in 1077

The first fortress of Hohensalzburg Castle was built in 1077 by Gebhard I Helfenstein, who was the archbishop at that time. And although he was expelled, his successors completed the construction. During the reign of the Holy Roman Empire, the archbishops of Salzburg continued to expand the castle to protect their power and interests. Around 1500, Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach completed the construction. And today we see the castle as it was at that time.
Despite the fact that the castle was built as a fortress, it was besieged only once in 1525 - during the peasant war in Germany. IN late XIX century, the castle was restored and has since been a popular tourist attraction.

Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England. Founded in 1070

Although there was a royal residence at Windsor in Saxon times (around the 9th century), construction of the first castle began around 1070, after the invasion of England by William the Conqueror. Since the reign of King Henry I, the castle has become the residence of the reigning monarchs of England. This is the oldest royal residence in Europe.
The castle was originally built as a motte and bailey, but gradually stone fortifications were built. When Henry III came to power, he built a magnificent Royal Palace, and Edward III made it even more grandiose. Windsor Castle is still owned by the English royal family and is a popular tourist attraction.

Reichsburg Cochem, Germany. Founded in 1000

Reichsburg Cochem or Cochem Castle is one of the oldest castles in the world. It is believed that it was built around 1000 by Count Palatine Ezzo. The earliest documentation of the castle appears in 1051, when Richesa, the eldest daughter of the Count Palatine and former Queen of Poland, gave the castle to her nephew, Count Palatine Henry I.
In 1151 the castle officially became an imperial residence after King Conrad III occupied it by force. In 1688, the castle was partially destroyed by the army of the French king Louis XIV, and in 1868 it was restored. Since 1978, the castle belongs to the city of Cochem.

Aleppo Citadel, Syria. Founded in 3000 BC.

Aleppo Citadel is one of the oldest and largest castles in the world. It is located on top of a hill in ancient city Aleppo, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The citadel fortress was built before 3000 BC. BC, but most of the buildings were probably erected during the reign of the Ayyubid dynasty in the 12th century.
In the early 2000s, the Aga Khan Cultural Foundation, in collaboration with the Aleppo Archaeological Society, carried out extensive conservation work at the citadel. Unfortunately, in recent years it has been seriously damaged as a result of the ongoing war.

The legacy of the Middle Ages, European castles today are shrouded in a veil of legends, tales and real dramatic events. Their thick stone walls remember sieges, civil wars, intrigues and romantic stories. Their lush or, on the contrary, ascetic interiors excite the imagination, which, when played out, takes you into the world of the knights of King Arthur, Lohengrin and Dracula. And, in general, at this moment it no longer matters whether these characters actually existed.

Abbey of Mont Saint Michel

Bran Castle, Transylvania, Romania

Bran Castle, 30 kilometers from the city of Brasov, is one of those places whose mythological history has overshadowed the real one, which, I must say, is very rich. Thanks to the novel by the Irishman Bram Stoker, published in 1897, Bran became “that” castle of Count Dracula, the most popular bloodsucker of mass culture and the main vampire of all times. Yes, there is a killer negative charm in this image: “He had an energetic, original face, a thin nose and some special, strange shape nostrils; an arrogant high forehead, and hair that grew scantily and at the same time in thick clumps near the temples; very thick eyebrows, almost meeting on the forehead. The mouth, as far as I could see under the heavy mustache, was determined, even cruel in appearance, with unusually sharp white teeth protruding between the lips, the bright color of which was striking in its vitality in a man of his age. But what was most striking was the extraordinary pallor of the face.” However, one should not associate Stoker's Dracula with his prototype, the 15th-century Wallachian prince Vlad the Impaler, also known as Vlad Dracula. Although the governor was not particularly humane, he was also not the bloody despot that he appears in the chronicles. The executions of the boyars after Tepes came to power in Transylvania were quite in the spirit of that by no means vegetarian time and internecine struggle; there were also more than once attempts on his life. Vlad Dracula has an indirect relationship with Bran Castle: dissatisfied with the refusal of the German merchants of Brasov to obey the trade rules he established, he more than once organized military campaigns against the obstinate city. However, no written evidence of his capture of the castle has survived.

Chillon Castle, Montreux, Switzerland

On the bosom of the waters stands Chillon;

There are seven columns in the dungeon

Covered with wet summer moss.

A sad light shines on them.

Unlike Bram Stoker, who used some of the appearance features and fragments of the biography of Vlad Dracula to create the image, Byron in “The Prisoner of Chillon” poeticized real story prisoner dark castle on the shore Lake Geneva. The poem, written by him in two days in June 1816, based on fresh impressions from visiting this place with his friend Percy Bysshe Shelley, was based on the events of the 16th century. The prototype of the Chillon prisoner was the abbot of one of the Geneva abbeys, Francois Bonivard, who resisted the persistent attempts of the Savoy Duke Charles III to seize power in Geneva. Bonivard spent six years in captivity and was released in 1536 by the Bernese. To be fair, in the centuries-old history of the castle, built in the middle of the 12th century as the residence of the Savoy dukes, there were many dramatic episodes. Thus, in 1798, under the influence of the French Revolution, the French-speaking canton of Vaud, refusing to recognize the power of German-speaking Bern, proclaimed the Leman Republic. When French troops entered the canton, to whom its inhabitants turned for help, Chillon Castle was turned into a warehouse for weapons and uniforms.

Abbey of Mont Saint Michel, Normandy, France

According to legend, the abbey on a rocky island at the mouth of the Cusnon River owes its appearance to Saint Michael, who in 708 appeared to Bishop Aubert three times until he was finally convinced of the correctness of his interpretation of the sign from above. Since then, the mountain, called Mogilnaya, bears the name of its heavenly patron - Mont Saint-Michel. In the 8th century, it all started with a modest chapel; in 966, by order of the Norman Duke, a proto-Romanesque church appeared here, and throughout the 11th-15th centuries, the abbey gradually expanded and was rebuilt, including due to destruction caused by a series of wars. In 1090, the abbey, in which William the Conqueror's youngest son Henry took refuge, was besieged by his brothers William the Red and the Duke of Normandy, Robert Shortpants. At the beginning of the 13th century, the abbey was captured by the French king Philip Augustus, who, however, to atone for his guilt before the monks and God, donated a large sum to the damaged Benedictine monastery, thanks to which a Miracle was erected on the northern slope - a building in gothic style with an extensive cloister. During the French Revolution and the Second Empire, the abbey also served as a prison, and today Mont Saint-Michel, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the most tourist destinations in France. Its outlines can be seen in many films, including “To the Wonder” (2012) by Terence Malick, the story of which begins with a visit to the abbey by a loving couple experiencing a relationship crisis.

Hohensalzburg, Austria

It is the Baroque towers and powerful walls of Hohensalzburg that form the textbook view of the Austrian capital, replicated in numerous photographs and postcards. One of the largest medieval fortresses Europe, built in 1077 by Archbishop Gebhard I of Salzburg, Hohensalzburg was greatly expanded in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. At the same time, a symbol of the fortress appeared above the main entrance - a lion with beets in its paws. Over the centuries, Hohensalzburg, overlooking the Old Town of the Austrian capital, has maintained a reputation as an impregnable bastion - and indeed, it is one of the few Austrian fortresses that has never been conquered. In 1977, for the 900th anniversary of Hohensalzburg, the Austrian Mint issued a commemorative coin featuring the castle. And in 2006, he appeared on the commemorative coins of the ancient Nonnberg Abbey, to which Salzburg owes its appearance.

Egeskov, Funen island, Denmark

In its current form, Egeskov was built in 1554 - a rather turbulent time of the beginning of the Reformation and slowly smoldering feudal wars, so the castle house was not a whim at that time, but an urgent necessity. Egeskov was built in the middle of the lake on a foundation of oak piles - according to legend, it took a whole oak grove to build it. The castle consists of two long houses connected by a thick defensive wall with a complex system of secret staircases to supply the inhabitants with water in the event of a siege. Add to this the machicolli on the outer walls, from which it was possible not only to fire at enemies, but also to pour molten resin on them and throw stones. Today Egeskov, still owned by the descendants of Henrik Bie, who bought the castle in 1784, looks quite peaceful. At the end of the 19th century, it turned into a farm equipped with the latest technology, which it remains to this day. In addition to the impressive interiors, attributed mainly to 19th century, the castle has exhibitions telling about his daily, private life.

Neuschwanstein, Bavaria, Germany

Despite its impressive appearance, built at the end of the 19th century, Neuschwanstein, unlike real medieval castles, was erected not to protect its owners, but as the embodiment of a childhood dream of the wonderful Middle Ages, the time of brave knights and beautiful ladies. In 1866, Bavaria, which fought on the side of Austria in the Austro-Prussian War, was defeated, as a result of which it lost part of its lands, and King Ludwig II lost the right to lead the army in the event of war and the status of a sovereign monarch. In 1867, he, who even as a child imagined himself as Lohengrin, a knight of the Holy Grail, found solace in a world of dreams, the material embodiment of which were palaces and castles - his small kingdom, in which he was the sole ruler. The Bavarian king was a fanatical admirer of the music of Richard Wagner and a generous patron of the composer, and the interiors of Neuschweinstein became large-scale illustrations for his operas. In addition to Wagnerian motifs, the image of a swan appears in the design of each room in one form or another - which would later inspire Pyotr Tchaikovsky to create “Swan Lake”. A little later, the appearance of the castle will enchant one of the main storytellers of the 20th century, Walt Disney, who uses the outline of the castle in the logo of the company he founded.

Scotney Castle, Kent, UK

Although the first written evidence of a certain Scotney Castle dates back to 1137, the oldest buildings that have reached us, or rather the picturesque ruins remaining from them, date back to the end of the 14th century. In the 16th century, a magnificent building in the Elizabethan style appeared on the site of the fortified house with towers, and around 1630 the eastern wing was rebuilt in the Palladian spirit. Uninhabited already in the 40s of the 19th century, it remained a decoration of the garden and a living testimony to the long and eventful history of the castle. And the Hussey family, which then took possession of the estate, built a new castle, stylized in the era of King James I, the first representative of the Stuart dynasty on the English throne, who ruled in the first third of the 17th century. The castle opened to the public only in 2007 - until that time it remained the residential home of the heiress of the family, Elizabeth Hussey. Full of paintings, antique furniture, books and photographs, it still retains a homely, non-museum atmosphere. Around the castle there are beautiful gardens, beech groves and heather heaths.

 

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